Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Mark 6:30-44: Feeding and Following

I had a professor that used to tell us, "if you are ever on Jeopardy and they ask you what miracle story is the only one that occurs in all four gospels, you better know the right answer after taking my class...and I will expect you to show your appreciation for what you learned from me by mailing a check for a small portion of your winnings."  The miracle he was referring to was the feeding of the 5,000, and it is indeed the only miracle that occurs in all four of the gospels.  Perhaps this should cause us to take note of what it is that Jesus does exactly, and why His actions are so significant.
To truly understand this manifestation of Jesus' power and goodness, we need to look beyond the miracle and see how Jesus' actions reveal to us His true identity, and how they instruct us to act as His disciples.  I have often over-looked Jesus response to the disciples when they bring up the problem of feeding this large group of people.  He doesn't mince words when he instructs them, "you give them something to eat."  The disciples expected to turn the crowd loose to fend for themselves, and yet Jesus takes the opportunity to teach them that they should concern themselves with the needs of others.  Do our attitudes and actions as Jesus' disciples live up to what He has envisioned for us?  Jesus' actions when he does obtain a little bit of food are noteworthy.  He takes, looks up to heaven, says a blessing, breaks, and then gives.  Many of us take, and some of us even look up to heaven and acknowledge God as the giver of our blessings, but how many of us then divide what we have and share it with others?  Jesus' teaches us what it means not only to say we are thankful, but also to demonstrate that appreciation through our actions.
This miracle story teaches us something about how we should act as followers of Jesus, but it also reveals something about who Jesus is.  The phrase "the good shepherd" is never used by Mark, but Jesus' character- especially when contrasted with that of Herod- identifies Him as such, even if the title is never used.  Herod, Israel's supposed leader, is shut up in his palace feasting with the elites, and executing the righteous and innocent like John the Baptist.  Jesus however, walks among the people, having compassion on them and seeing to their needs.  In Numbers 27 Moses expresses fear that after his death, the Israelites will become as "sheep without a shepherd".  In that instance God chooses Joshua to act as Moses successor.  Now, centuries later, we see Jesus, whose name is a form of Joshua's name, having compassion on the crowd because they are like "sheep without a shepherd."  Moses fears have been realized, and yet God has acted by providing a new, better Joshua to meet both the temporal and eternal needs of His people.  In ways that invoke the 23rd Psalm, Jesus makes the people lie down in green pastures (v. 39), and prepares for them a table (v. 41).  In the person of Jesus Christ, God has faithfully fulfilled the promise He made to Israel through the prophet Ezekiel:
"For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.  As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.  And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country.  I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land.  There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.  I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.  I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy.  I will feed them in justice." 
- Ezekiel 34:11-16

God has indeed come among us as a shepherd, searching us out and rescuing us, making us lie down and feeding us.  He calls each one of us to Himself.  Do you hear, or better yet do you recognize, the voice of your shepherd?        


                                            

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Mark 6:14-29: An Inconvenient Truth

The truth isn't always popular, and it's often inconvenient.  As disciples of Christ, the challenge is telling the truth even in those times when it hurts.  Whether it stings someone else emotionally or causes our own lives turmoil, our vindication comes ultimately because of our willingness to cling to our proclamation of the truth, even when that proclamation has dire circumstances.  There is no greater example of such determined truth-telling than that of John the Baptist, a man who often found himself in hot water because of the truthfulness of his testimony.
We see clearly illustrated in John's story that there will come a time when telling the truth will make us enemies.  Sadly for John, his witnessing made enemies of not only King Herod, but also his wife Herodias.  Being surrounding by sycophants and courtiers, Herod was probably not used to hearing his actions criticized.  And yet, John didn't hesitate to share an honest opinion of Herod's marriage to Herodias, specifically the opinion that it violated the law.  Though we have no indication that John mentioned it, Herod was also guilty of building his capital on a pagan cemetery (making it inhabitable to any law-observant Jew), and naming it Tiberias (after a Roman Emperor of all people).  Of course it's possible that John had something to say about these things, but the text makes it clear that Herod's wife Herodias took specific issue with his criticism of her marriage to Herod, and states that she had a "grudge" against him, or "had it in for" him.  This vocal opposition to the marriage of Herod and Herodias would ultimately lead to John's beheading, an execution chosen as a means of demeaning and dishonoring the condemned.  If the powers that be will treat a prophet like John the Baptist in such a way, how will they respond to one who is greater, whose actions themselves proclaim the message of God's kingdom at work in the world?  What treatment can Jesus expect to receive at the hands of such people?  
John isn't the only person we can learn from in this story.  As Christians we are called to proclaim the truth, but as imperfect sinners, there will also be times when we need to hear very difficult truths.  How will we respond when the truth is inconvenient?  We see Herod was intrigued by John's message, but he lacked the character to respond in the necessary way.  Herod is greatly disturbed when his own oath forces him to acquiesce to John's execution.  The Greek word  perilypos, which the ESV translates as "exceedingly sorry", is used only one other time in the gospel of Mark, to describe Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  If we think of Jesus' agony in the garden, we can then imagine the internal conflict that Herod was experiencing.  He knew what he should do, but he proved incapable of doing it, setting off an emotional and spiritual civil war within.  It's easy to overlook the fact that this story is introduced by way of referencing Jesus' increasing popularity.  What we have in Mark 6 is a recounting of what had already happened to John, set in motion because many thought Jesus to be John the Baptist back from the dead.  Was this Jesus the resurrected John, a martyred prophet resurrected and thus vindicated by God?  While we know that in fact that was not the case, we can also understand why Herod would fear that Jesus' ministry was ultimately a sign that he had chosen the wrong side.  Which "side" have you chosen?  When confronted with the tough truth of who Jesus is, how have you responded?
A final thing we can take away from the story of John's death is that our cause and our message, is bigger than we are.  Looking through the world's eyes, it would appear that Herod won in his confrontation with the message proclaimed by John the Baptist.  However, history, and ultimately God vindicates John at the same time that it vindicates Jesus.  In an appropriate twist of fate, Herod would go to war with the Nabateans some time after John's death, partially over his past divorce of a Nabatean princess.  That twist of fate would prove to be not only appropriate but also ironic in that it was this divorce which cleared the way for Herod's marriage to Herodias.  In the end, Herod's marriage was not only the cause of John the Baptist's undoing, but also Herod's as well.  While the text refers to Herod has a king, technically speaking he was merely a tetrarch, and it would actually be his request to be made a king that would get him exiled by Caligula in 39 AD.  Herod's exile sent him hundreds, if not thousands of miles from his "kingdom", where he was never heard from again.  Contrast this with John, who even in death was shown a great deal of respect by his disciples, who retrieve his body for a proper burial.  Those same disciples continue his ministry, helping prepare the way for the proclamation of the kingdom of God, and ultimately the church. 
One died shamefully, but is honored to this day as an example of what it means to proclaim the truth with boldness and without reservation.  The other lived gloriously, but died in exile, forgotten by all those whom the sought to impress and rule over.  In referring to the treatment of John the Baptist perhaps John Chrysostom summed it up best when he said of Herod that  “he cut off the head but he did not cut off the voice.  He curbed the tongue but he did not curb the accusation.”  When we proclaim the truth, no matter what happens to our head or our tongue, our voice is never silenced.      

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Mark 6:7-13: nothing for the journey

Every day when I leave my house I go through a ritual.  A quick pat to the back left pocket confirms I have my wallet, with a similar one to the back right pocket verifying that I have my phone.  A pat of my left thigh to see if I have my keys and all that is left is a checking of my shirt pocket to be sure my glasses are there.  Wallet, phone, keys, glasses, all things I deem necessary for even a quick trip away from home.
In Mark 6 the disciples are sent out on a much longer journey than the ones I typically go on, and yet they are expressly forbidden from taking many of the things we would deem to be essential.  This prohibition is an attempt on Jesus' part to force His disciples to rely on God.  One way or the other they will learn to trust in God, even if that has to happen because everything else they could possibly rely on has been taken away.
As the church in America, we live and work in the richest society, allowing us to utilize a variety of ministry tools.  And yet, the church is growing the fastest in the third world, where church gyms, stage lighting, and youth group ski trips are all but unheard of.  How do you get youth to come to church without enticing them with a trip?  How do you hold people's attention without mood-lighting and sophisticated worship videos?
Could it be that there is something that people need more than trips and entertainment?  Could it be that people are interested not so much in the glitz and glamour of church, but in the glory of Christ?  The experience of the church in the third world would say that such is indeed the case.  Perhaps instead of throwing more money at our efforts to evangelize, we should focus on ensuring that our churches don't obscure the God that they exist to proclaim.
Jesus' instructions to the disciples not only call for a reliance on God, but they also redefine the community of faith, God's chosen people.  Lineage will no longer be a determining factor in whether you are a member of the family of God.  Instead, each person's response to Jesus' message will place them squarely in or out of God's people.  The bottom line in this episode, as well as the entire gospel of Mark is this- it isn't what we call ourselves that matters, but how we respond to the good news brought by Jesus Christ.  When confronted with God's work in our world, how do we react?  Do we prepare ourselves for the journey of following Jesus, or do we watch as others depart, shaking the dust from their feet because of our refusal to believe?  

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Mark 6:1-6: Rejection, and not the dating kind

There is a poster on the wall in a hallway of the school where a substitute teach a lot.  It says, "if at first you fail, you're in good company" and on the poster are pictures of some of our nations most famous leaders including Lincoln, FDR, and Harry Truman.  It's odd to think of Abraham Lincoln as a failure, but the New York Herald would say this about him after his nomination to be the Republican candidate for president in 1860:
“The conduct of the Republican party in this nomination is a remarkable indication of small intellect, growing smaller.  They pass over…statesmen and able men, and they take up a fourth rate lecturer, who cannot speak good grammar.”
It shows the quality of the Herald's judgment that Lincoln, whom they criticized as a fourth-rate lecturer incapable of speaking good grammar, wrote one of the greatest speeches in American history in the Gettysburg Address.  No doubt the New York Herald's opinion was driven in large part by geographical and educational bias.  Being from the "frontier" and not having attended an elite Ivy-League school in the east, how could Lincoln possibly possess what is necessary to lead a country?!  When it speaks of the people being "offended" by Jesus in verse 3 of Mark 6, the word used in the Greek is the same word that gives us our word "scandal".  It was scandalous to them that Jesus would assume the authority of a teacher in the synagogue, especially in light of His humble background.  They knew Jesus, the reference to Him being the "son of Mary" was more than likely an indirect insult referring to the questionable circumstances of His birth, as at that time men were almost always referred to as the son of their father rather than their mother.  Celsus, a 2nd century critic of Christianity would deride it for having a common laborer, Jesus the carpenter, as its founder.  We learn from the life of Christ that rejection often has as much to do with other people's inability to move beyond their preconceptions, as it has to do with our own inabilities.  It's worth asking the question, do our preconceptions ever prevent us from seeing Jesus for who He truly is?
It's encouraging to see that even when we misjudge Jesus, even when we fail to properly understand Him, we can always correct our mistakes.  We have seen that Jesus family didn't start out as huge fans of His ministry, and yet at least a few of those family members changed their tune.  Jesus' mother Mary is seen at the foot of His cross in John 19, and gathered with the apostles in Acts 1:14.  Similarly, Jesus' brother James is referred to as a leader of, perhaps even THE leader of the Jerusalem church in both Acts and Galatians.  If Jesus' own family, which in the beginning was so critical of His ministry, can change their minds and eventually take on leading roles in spreading Christ's kingdom, why can't we move past our past inabilities and short-comings to become better followers of Jesus?  After all, when it comes to discipleship past failure is no barrier to future success.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Mark 5:21-43: The Story of Two Women

This is the story of two women.  One is helpless to act on her own behalf, while the other is legally prohibited from doing so.  How does faith impact the lives of these two women?  What can we learn from their stories?  If our eyes and ears are attentive to the grace that they received- one through her own boldness, and the other through the boldness of another- then we will learn something not only about their own experience, but also about the possibilities of our own future with a generous and loving God.
The first thing that strikes us is the combination of humility and boldness exhibited by both Jairus, and the woman with the issue of blood.  Here is Jairus, a synagogue official, falling at the feet of Jesus, who has no officially recognized station or position.  In this moment, his own pride matters very little, when placed on a balance with the health of his little girl.  More than likely some of his friends in the religious establishment would have whispered among themselves at his willingness to approach this Jesus fellow, whose "official" credentials were non-existent.  And yet, in this moment the circumstances of Jairus' life have forced him to come to the realization that he needs help, and so he bows, before the only one who seemingly has the ability to deliver his little girl.  If Jairus' actions are humble with a touch of boldness, then the actions of the woman with the issue of blood are quite the opposite, being characterized by a boldness that causes her to defy the rules her community lives by.  According to the law, she shouldn't even be in the crowd (see Leviticus 15: 25-30), as her medical condition makes her ritually unclean.  And yet, here she is, bold enough to break the law because it has become obvious to her that it is the only chance she has at receiving healing.  Faith is recognizing our own limitations, knowing when we need help, and boldly approaching the only one capable of providing the grace and forgiveness we need to desperately.
A second thing we learn from Jesus' interaction with the woman, and with Jairus' daughter, is that we are not defined by those around us.  On the contrary, we are defined by Jesus Christ, the one who created us.  In the eyes of society the woman was physically ill; impoverished, because doctors charge whether they are successful at healing you or not; and ritually unclean.  This is how others saw her.  Jesus' saw her in a very different way, as witnessed by the act that He calls her "daughter".  By referring to her in a way that demonstrates her intrinsic value, Jesus is granting her not only physical healing, but also binding up the spiritual and psychological wounds see has suffered because of her long illness.  In a similar way, Jairus' daughter was labeled by those around her as being dead, and understandably so.  Their fault lies not because they saw the little girl as dead, for that was in reality her situation.  Their failure was in failing to understand the scope of Jesus' power, and it's ability to defeat even death itself.  Their laughter calls to mind other instances of people laughing in the Bible.  Both Abraham and Sarah laugh at the thought of a couple their age having a child (Gen. 17:15-17 & 18:9-15).  The soldiers and those present for Jesus' crucifixion mock Him and make light of His death.  In both instances, that of Abraham and Sarah, and that of the soldiers and crowd that mock Jesus, the laughter and mockery is over-whelmed by the power of God to accomplish His plan on the earth, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.  If God can cause the old to bear children and the dead to rise, surely He can accomplish His will in each of our lives, despite what others may say or think.  The opinions of others are shown to be beyond insignificant in the presence of our resurrected Lord.
A final lesson that we can learn from this story is perhaps the most important one of the three, and that is that nothing separates us from the love of Christ.  We typically place a lot of pressure on ourselves to "get things right" when it comes to our religious life.  While it is an admirable goal to want to rightly understand God's will for us, and one that I think is worthy of pursuit, at times in our zeal to pursue that goal we buy into the idea that a failure to properly understand on our part will become an impediment to God's grace.  Consider the instance of the woman with the issue of blood.  Her desire to touch Jesus' garment was almost certainly related to a prevalent belief at the time that the garments of powerful figures were themselves imbued with power.  Is this actually how it worked?  No.  However, even in her misunderstanding the woman recognized Jesus as a powerful figure, and thus sought Him out.  Notice that despite her failure to understand the process, she is still healed.  It is after she is healed that Jesus takes the time to correct her thinking, telling her that her faith has made her well.  What does this mean?  It means that perhaps we should spend less time dissecting the process, and more time studying and reflecting on the one who empowers the process.  Faith comes with a certain degree of mystery, elements of belief that lie beyond understanding.  It's not misunderstanding that leads us astray, but our efforts to explain the inexplicable.  It's a manifestation of God's grace that even when we don't get everything right, He still imparts healing, just as He did for the woman with the issue of blood.  For Jesus' part, it's also worth noticing that in healing the woman, Jesus subjects Himself to ritual impurity.  It may be a little odd to think of Jesus' as being ritually impure, but then again it is also a little odd to think of a crucified Messiah.  If we are impressed by Jesus' willingness to cross the boundaries of ritual purity, how much more impressed will we be when we see Him cross the boundary between life and death?  Jesus' willingness to die is His own way of defining, or shall we say redefining who we are, and at the same time demonstrating the boundless love of a God who goes anywhere, and does anything necessary to reconcile us to Himself.        

Monday, November 7, 2011

Mark 5:1-20: because we all have a demon in us

At first it's easy to look at a story of a demon-possessed man and think, "how in the world does this relate to me?"  We live in a more "civilized" age where what was once thought to be demon-possession, is now more accurately diagnosed as epilepsy, or some other medical condition that causes seizures.  However, what if we lay aside our rationalistic critiques of Scripture for a moment in an attempt to see the deeper meaning behind Jesus' interaction with this man.  After all, the Gospel of Mark is not a medical textbook, but rather the story of the good news of Jesus Christ, and the grace and healing that he embodies.  I think that if we view this story through the lens of experience, as it was meant to be seen, then we will see that from this man's experience we learn three things are as true for us today as they were for him, changes in scientific terminology not withstanding.
The first thing that we learn is that Jesus meets us where we are.  It's a common misconception, one reinforced by our semantics at times, that we "come" to Jesus.  The entire story of Jesus Christ is one in which He comes to us.  It's what gives such power and mystery to the story of the Incarnation and the virgin birth.  The idea that God would in humility become like the very humans He created speaks of God's willingness, even His eagerness to enter into a relationship with us.  It is true that we find people in the gospels coming to Jesus, but their actions are made possible only because He first came to us as a helpless child in a manger in Bethlehem.  Beyond the larger action of the Incarnation, Jesus shows a remarkable willingness in His everyday life to go wherever He is needed.  The present case is perhaps one of the most notable examples, as Jesus has left Jewish soil and entered Gentile territory, and not just Gentile territory, but a ritually unclean cemetery where a ritually unclean demon-possessed man resides.  Nothing, not geographic borders, not ritualistic purity laws, not even the humiliating act of emptying Himself and taking the form of a servant (see Philippians 2), will prevent Christ from going where He is most needed, and faithfully meeting us there.

A second enduring truth we learn from this man's experience is that we all have demons.  Again, the terminology can obscure our ability to actually see the similarities between this man's experience and our own.  We see him referred to as demon-possessed, and we automatically assume that we have very little in common with him.  On the contrary, if we look at his symptoms rather than the diagnosis we may be shocked to see exactly how much we resemble this man at times.  "Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones."  (v. 5)  The self-loathing that motivates the cutting of oneself is something that we have not escaped, despite all of our scientific advancement and improved diagnostic ability.  Too many people, especially young people, have directed a hatred inward at themselves that manifests itself in violent, self-destructive ways.  Every year, 11 out of every 100,000 people in the United States will take their own life.  In 2006, over 33,000 people in the United States killed themselves.  If we think a little more generally, we see that self-destructive behavior is not limited to suicidal attempts or overt acts of violence against ourselves.  From 2001-2005 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that there were around 79,000 alcohol-related death.  How many of us walk around having damaged our bodies because of addiction, whether it be to alcohol, drugs, or even sex.  Our understanding of medicine and even the human mind may have advanced substantially since the day that this demon-possessed man encountered Jesus, but the fact remains that we all have demons.  Our refusal to acknowledge them as such doesn't change the reality of our situation.  When Jesus comes to us, we are all in some way the victims of our own self-destructive behavior.

The final truth we learn from this man's experience is one that comes as a great relief, and that is that we can encounter Jesus just as we are.  I have found that people often feel the need to "clean up" their life before becoming a Christian, or getting involved in church.  Imagine if we took the same attitude toward our physical health.  What we think of someone who insisted on waiting to go to the doctor until the were completely healthy?  We might begin to assume that their problem wasn't physical, but perhaps mental in nature!  Doctors are there for the express purpose of treating us when we are ill, or injured.  We come to them sick and broken, so that we might find healing.  Why then, do we so many times insist on getting our lives in order before we turn to Jesus?  An even more pressing question is, why do our churches insist on only admitting those whose lives are "in order"?  It's the spiritual equivalent of a hospital rejecting the wounded for fear of getting blood on the floor.  We see this man come to Jesus, and even as he cries out he recognizes Jesus for who He is, stating "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?"  It is ironic that even in his demon-possessed state this man is able to see clearly enough to recognize Jesus as the "Son of the Most High God", something Jesus' own disciples have failed to do.   (Mark 4:41)  Maybe it is even the process of acknowledging our demons that causes us to see Jesus more clearly, that drives us to cast ourselves into His merciful arms where healing can be found.  The picture of this formerly demon-possessed man is a powerful testimony to Jesus ability to drive out own own demons, for they "came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid."  He who was naked, is now clothed.  He whose consciousness was once racked by demons, now sits calmly.  He who once lived in a cemetery among the tombs of the dead, now sits at the feet of Jesus, who will conclusively demonstrate His power to give life when he triumphs over sin and death through His own resurrection.  Perhaps we should all consider a similar move, from the cemetery of our past where the demons hold us in their grip, to the presence of Jesus, where the Son of the Most High casts out the sin and death associated with our past.      

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Mark 4:35-41: chaos past, present, and future

In biblical days, especially in the period in which the Old Testament was written, the waters of the sea represented chaos.  It was a commonly held belief in many ancient mythologies that the powers of evil, and chaotic spirits resided in the deep.  No doubt this connection is based on the very real power, and large scope, of the seas and oceans that cover our planet.  Our own creation narrative in Genesis speaks of God dividing the waters and bringing forth land.  It is easy for us to look back on these ancient peoples, and even perhaps the people of the Old Testament, and view their beliefs as being somewhat outdated to say the least.  And yet, even today we still use the imagery of water to describe some of our most out-of-control and helpless moments.  All of us at some point in our lives have used phrases like "I'm drowning in work", "the storms of life", or perhaps even referred to our emotions as having a "sinking feeling".
The point is, whether we admit it or not, we know that there is a very good reason why large bodies of water and chaos are so frequently linked.  Furthermore, we can understand why the disciples would be terrified when encountering a storm on the open water.  The small size of their boat was no match for the vastness of the sea.  This story is about more than a miracle, it's about how we view our problems.  Do we view them in relation to our own powerlessness, or do we view them in the context of God's omnipotence?  Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that to view them in their proper context, the one where God's power is taken into account, is easy.  On the contrary, it's quite difficult, precisely because it is in those moments where we feel so helpless.
The thing I take away from all of this is the noticeable difference between Jesus' response and that of the disciples.  The disciples are responding out of their fear, and understandably so.  Jesus however, isn't responding at all.  In fact, he is sleeping.  His ability to rest in even the most perilous of moments is a testimony to His unfailing confidence in God's power at work in Him.  Scripture itself testifies to this power.  The psalmist would ask, "O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you?  You rule the raging sea; when its waves rise, you still them." (Psalm 89:8-9)  This refers to the power of God, but another psalm speaks even more specifically to the situation of the disciples:
"Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep.  For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.  They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits' end.  Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.  He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.  Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.  Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!  Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders." (Psalm 107:23-32)
Jesus' disciples fail to make the connection.  Perhaps they didn't know their Bible as well as they should, or maybe they just didn't have the eyes of faith to see what was happening around them.  While they might have failed to recognize Jesus' true identity here, eventually they do see Him for who He is.  We know this not only because we read of their boldness of faith later in Scripture, but because the art of the early church demonstrates a faithful understanding of this story.  In early Christian art the church was often portrayed as a boat, with Jesus stationed in the rear, just as He was in this story when the disciples boat encountered such a dangerous storm.  It is understandable why Mark's first readers would relate so strongly to this story.  The early church was in the midst of a great persecution, and were no doubt asking many of the same questions the disciples did when confronted with the storm.  "Does he not care that we are perishing?"  This story would have been of great comfort to them, as it shows that while God may appear to be "asleep", he is never powerless.  We can never simply wish our problems away, but we can put them in context.  While the storms of life may be infinitely more powerful than we are ourselves, our God is more powerful still.    

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Mark 4:21-34: a lamp and two seeds

Some might have been discouraged by Jesus statement on parable leading up to this particular passage.  How will Jesus' message ever be proclaimed successfully if those who hear fail to understand?  Jesus' words here are meant to encourage us, and show us that ultimately what is hidden will be revealed.  Just as one does not light a lamp only to hide it's light, neither is Jesus' message proclaimed to deliberately confuse those who hear it.
I have often heard televangelists and the like distort and twist Jesus' words and apply them to giving.  "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added.  For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away."  This is far from an invitation to "sow a seed" in the ministry of the televangelist begging for a donation on the television.  The principal at work here is not some sort of divine economics, at least not of the monetary kind.  It is actually quite the opposite.  When we embrace God's work on this earth, we seek to invest not on earth, where as Jesus says "moth and rust destroy", but in heaven.  In other words, our response to the word preached by Jesus will dictate our participation, or lack of participation, in the kingdom.  Rather than revealing some sort of divine economics, Jesus is actually revealing a divine paradox.  We can invest in our own happiness by seeking to accumulate wealth, but this strategy present its own problem.  In order to cash in on that investment, we have to use up or wear out the very thing we have saved up.  However, when we cease investing solely in ourselves and invest in others, in God's kingdom, we receive back far more than we can ever imagine; not in hard currency, but in an eternal joy whose value does not diminish or fluctuate.
The next two images Jesus' uses are agricultural.  This shouldn't surprise us giving Jesus' context, preaching in the countryside to peasants and farmers.  Jesus has a remarkable ability of making His teaching accessible by using imagery that the people would find familiar, and understand.  When he talks about a seed growing "secretly", they know exactly what he is referring to.  They think about how the growth of a seed is indiscernible to the naked eye, and yet still very much apparent over time.  Notice the ordinary rhythm of time, as the farmer sleeps and rises.  He may not understand all of the processes taking place for that seed to grow, but it happens nonetheless.  It happens over time.  The same is true for the kingdom of God.  We do not understand how this seed that God plants grows in our hearts, but it does.  We may not feel any more "spiritual" from one day to the next, but hopefully from year to year we see ourselves growing closer to God.  Hopefully we see our attitudes toward others becoming more Christ-like.
If this seed growing "secretly" models the growth of the kingdom in our own hearts, then the growth of the mustard seed models the growth of the kingdom as a body of believers.  Jesus says, "with what can we compare the kingdom of God...it is like a grain of mustard seed."  In antiquity, Pliny the Elder would say,  "mustard...with its pungent taste and fiery effect...grows entirely wild, though it is improved by being transplanted: but in the other hand when it has once been sown it is scarcely possible to get the place free of it, as the seed when it falls germinates at once."   Jesus didn't chose mustard as an object of comparison for the kingdom of God because of its "pungent taste and fiery effect".  He chose it because of its tenacity.  As the Roman Empire sought to stamp out the growth of Christianity, they found that the kingdom is as hard as mustard to eradicate.  What began as a tiny seed in a backwater of a Roman province, had germinated to become a community of faith, hope, and love.
It's easy to beat ourselves up over our mistakes, to spend each day looking deep into our heart and lamenting the lack of growth.  While that behavior is understandable, it also makes about as much sense as a farmer pulling up a chair to watch a seed grow.  We can't judge our spiritual life a success or failure based on what happens day-to-day.  Instead, look at where you are compared to a year ago, or even five years ago.  Do you find yourself more drawn to God in prayer?  Do you find yourself loving, or at least no longer hating, those you once thought to be unlovable?  Are your priorities focused more on the eternal than the temporary?  If you can answer any of these questions positively then rest assured that, though it may not be as evident as you would like, God's seed has found a place in your heart, and is steadily growing into a crop that will yield a harvest in His kingdom.          

Friday, October 21, 2011

Mark 4:1-20: parables, their problems and their explanations

In these twenty verses, three things happen:
1. Jesus tells a parable
2. Jesus explains why parables can sometimes be a hindrance to understanding the gospel
3. Jesus explains the parable he just told

The first thing Jesus does is tell a parable, the parable of the sower.  It's probably one that many of us are familiar with.  My experience has been that we usually focus our attention on either the various types of soil, or on the seed.  Both are important, as Jesus explains towards the end of the passage, but we miss something if we fail to consider how the seed and soil work together to produce growth, and eventually a harvest.  It's the parable of the sower, not the parable of the planter.  In other words, God broadcasts the good news of Jesus Christ and the invitation to participate in the in-breaking of His kingdom universally.  The seed falls on all types of soil, this itself is the definition of grace.  God does not choose only the soil that is "good enough".  It is not up to us to make the growth happen, our job is to simply make room in our heart for the word that God wants to plant there.  An interesting note about the type of soils is that the rocky soil is actually described as petrodes, a word that shares the same root as the name of the Apostle Peter.  This could be coincidence, but even so it teaches us a valuable lesson.  All of us, whether apostle or new believer, have some rocks or thorns in the soil of our heart.  When we see Peter's journey, from one who would cower at the thought of being associated with Jesus, to one who would boldly proclaim His death and resurrection, we see that the sowing of the seed is the beginning, rather than the end of God's work.  When Jesus speaks of the harvest to come, he gives us a glimpse into the miraculous future that God will produce through our faith in His Son.

Why then does Jesus speak of parables confusing people?  Is Jesus being deliberately misleading?  Is he trying to hide the truth?  On the contrary, Jesus is revealing the truth through the parable that He gives.  His point is that the parables are not meant to give us an answer, but rather to jump-start our own imagination when it comes to envisioning how God is at work in the world.  Many of the people were coming to Jesus because they wanted simple answers.  Jesus' response is that faith is not simple, and unless we are willing to engage our imagination and the very mind that we have been blessed with, our eyes and ears will never be opened to all that God is doing in the world around us.  

The section ends with Jesus explaining the parable that he just gave to them.  He says, "to you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God".  The word secret is also translated mystery, which I think is more appropriate.  It is the only time in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) that this word is used.  Jesus brings it up to show us that the point is not to explain the mystery.  Much division has resulted in the Christian world because we feel the need to explain everything, even the inexplicable.  The point is to embrace the mystery, and allow it to sink deep into our hearts, just as good soil embraces a seed.     Our own failure to understand how the seed grows, and the harvest is produced, robs the process of none of its wonder.  In fact, it's what makes it such a visible manifestation of grace, the very work of God among us.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Mark 3:22-35: Divided houses, blasphemy, and being related to Jesus

Government and politics may have taken a different form in Jesus' day, but it still functioned in ways that would be familiar to us.  For instance, when something odd, strange, or threatening is afoot, an investigation needs to be launched.  In this passage, we see the scribes coming "down from Jerusalem" to look into all the going-ons associated with this Jesus character they have been hearing about.  It doesn't take them long to decide they don't like what's happening one bit, to the extent that they even accuse Jesus of being in league with the devil!  Jesus' response to this accusation is familiar to us not only because of its location in scripture, but because it has also been enshrined in our own nation's rhetorical history.  One of America's greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, adapted Jesus' words that "a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand" to describe the situation of the United States when it was divided between slave states and free states.  Slave states saw the existence of free states as a threat to their own existence, and vice versa.  An adversarial relationship was created that ensured conflict between the two groups, a conflict that would reach it's crescendo in America's Civil War.  Just as slavery and freedom could not coexist within the same nation without one prevailing over the other, neither can the kingdom of God and the rule of Satan coexist permanently in this world.  And if in fact, Jesus' is shown to be pushing back Satan's rule, and the sin, death, and destruction that comes with it, how can Jesus properly be accused of being in league with him?  If Satan is the "strong man" who is bound, then Jesus is the one who binds him, because Jesus is the "one who is stronger" (see Mark 1:7).  In the end, a simple understanding of logic leads us to only one conclusion.  If the only one stronger than Satan is God, and yet Jesus is stronger than Satan, then Jesus must be...the human manifestation God.  That means that rather than being on Satan's side, Jesus is in fact Satan's worse nightmare, the star-player for the other team.
Jesus' statement on blasphemy is one that provokes a lot of fear.  The question everyone wants answered is, "what exactly is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?"  If there is one sin to avoid, it's probably the one that carries eternal guilt.  I think the previous exchange between Jesus and the scribes from Jerusalem sheds a lot of light on what Jesus is talking about here.  To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is literally to attribute the work of the Spirit to Satan.  If sin is going the wrong way on the map, then blaspheming the Holy Spirit is wadding the map up and throwing it in the trash, or perhaps reversing the compass on the map so that what looks like north is actually south.  You can never get where you want to go if you ditch the map that tells you how to get there, or if the map points you in the wrong direction.  We can never hope to follow God if we consistently attribute God's work in the world to Satan.  The sin isn't eternal because God refuses to forgive us, it's eternal because we refuse to allow God to forgive us, by failing to recognize Him.
If the section on blasphemy is a little disturbing, there is more than a little comfort to be found in the last few verses of this passage.  A lot of questions arise concerning Jesus' treatment of His family, especially because Jesus' words are often interpreted as a rejection of those closest to Him (his mother, brothers, sisters, etc).  However, if we read Jesus' words carefully, we see that they are actually inclusive rather than exclusive.  Jesus isn't renouncing His family, He is including us in it.  It is truly good news for us that having a relationship with Jesus is not about having the same blood coursing through our veins.  Instead, it's about trusting that His blood is more than enough to bring us back into a relationship with God.  The message of the gospel is not that Jesus' rejects those closest to Him, but that He invites us all to draw near to Him, and become a part of the family whose relationships are defined by its faith in the God He reveals to us.
        

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Mark 3:7-21: universal appeal, picking apostles, and family problems

Jesus can relate to anyone in our current society, and that fact is demonstrated in this text.  I have often heard celebrities, star athletes, and even royalty say that it's very lonely being famous.  Part of me is entirely unsympathetic (I would't mind giving fame a try to see if they are correct), and yet another part of me at least understands where it is they are coming from.  I think Jesus had a far better idea than I ever could of what our modern day celebrities mean when they complain of being lonely.  He is surrounded by crowds that come from literally every direction- the reference to Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, Tyre, and Sidon is a clever literary device that illustrates this fact nicely- and yet Jesus doesn't really have anyone to relate to.  In fact, the only ones present who truly recognize Jesus for who He is are the demons.  Jesus is dogged by crowds who fall on Him seeking favors of healing, exorcism, and restoration, but the demons are the only ones who fall before Jesus in recognition of who He is.  
It isn't surprising then that Jesus would select a group from among His disciples, a group to work with Him more intimately.  The men Jesus chooses teach us about symbolism, the continuity of God's work in the world, and the importance of our devotion to God's agenda.  The fact that Jesus chooses twelve men to be apostles is symbolic, and indeed shows Jesus ministry to be a continuation of Israel's role as witness to God's grace and loving-kindness.  More than likely, the twelve apostles are intended to represent in some way the twelve tribes of Israel.  Whatever the connection, the fact that there are twelve is clearly significant, as the apostles seek to replace Judas after his betrayal and suicide.  In their minds, it was both significant and important that there be twelve apostles.  It is equally significant that a role call of the apostles reveals some to have achieved greater fame than others.  While all are apostles, Peter, James, and John are almost always going to top the list; and are probably remembered by far more than others like Bartholomew or Thaddeus.  How many guys named Peter, James, or John do you know?  Now compare that to how many Bartholomew's and Thaddeus' you have met.  The disparity reflects the fact that even in ministry, some are destined to achieve more fame than others.  Our world desperately needs to understand that fame is in no way a reflection of faithfulness in ministry.  In the past six months, I have learned first-hand the temptation that exists to measure oneself against better-known peers when in ministry.  Whenever that temptation rears its ugly head, God has a way of  reminding me of all the people I have met, many of whom minister as volunteers, that continually show Christ through their service to and love of others.  Very few are famous, many of them receive no recognition at all.  It's an encouraging reminder that when we sign up for service in the kingdom, we agree to allow God to use us wherever, and however He sees fit.  The real measure of success is not how many people see and hear about our ministry, it's whether what they see and hear brings glory to God, and preaches His love to them.  My guess is that Bartholomew and Thaddeus' lived out faithful lives, remaining true to their calling as apostles.  The fact that their ministry took them "off the stage", to places beyond the sight of history, is all the more reason to remember them as examples of true faith, a faith manifested in the willingness to work unseen by our fellow man, and unheralded save by the one whose praise matters most, Jesus Christ.
I should probably end there, but I wanted to include a short thought about the last few verses, where Jesus' family thinks He has lost His mind.  There is no deep theological truth in these verses, but there is a bit of comfort.  Jesus truly is capable of relating to our struggles, sometimes more than we know.  He even experienced what it is like to be misunderstood, and perhaps looked down on my those closest to Him.  Jesus didn't just come to earth to save us, He came to experience life, and in so doing demonstrate for us how to faithfully endure all the trials that this world has to offer.  Whether those trials took the form of a cross, or simply family members who never seemed to "get it", Jesus had the strength necessary to deal with each of them in a way that was true to who He was.  This is good news for us, because while we might not have the same strength ourselves, we at least know someone who does.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Mark 3:1-6: saving Sabbath from the Sabbath

We've seen it emerge already as a theme throughout the gospel of Mark: what is the Sabbath?  The discussion, and indeed the confrontation over what the Sabbath was and is comes to a head in this episode involving Jesus, the Pharisees and Herodians, and a man with a withered hand.  Parallel to the development of the conversation over Sabbath-keeping is the marshaling together of Jesus' opponents.  His adversaries started out as merely scribes (2:6), and their resistance was passive and implicit.  Before long we get a clearer picture of the opposition, as the scribes are identified as scribes of the Pharisees (2:16).  By the end of Mark 2 we see the Pharisees themselves enter into the discussion (2:24), and now by the beginning of Mark 3 we see that a formidable alliance of Pharisees and Herodians (3:6) has taken an active role in opposing Jesus and his ministry. 
I mention all of this to demonstrate that the Pharisees and Herodians were not objective judges when it comes to evaluating Jesus and his actions.  The word used in verse 2 is actually "observe", and it is the same word that would be used to describe a physician making a medical diagnosis, or interestingly enough, to describe someone taking part in a religious observance.  Given that all of this takes place in the synagogue, I think it is fair to say that the Pharisees and Herodians true religion has ceased to be the worship of Yahweh, and has become the judgment of those around them.  At some point, all of us have been guilty of judging a person's actions not based on their merit, but based on our opinion of that person.  Such attitudes blinded the Pharisees and the Herodians to the Messiah standing in their midst, and more than likely they blind us to the God-given worth of the person whose actions we pre-judge. 
As readers of the gospel, we have seen enough of Jesus' character to suspect that he is about to do something about the condition of this man with the withered hand.  Our suspicions are confirmed when he tells the man to "stand up", or more literally "rise up", a word that is used not only to refer to the physical action of standing or rising, but is also used to refer to and describe the resurrection itself.  Jesus is about to reveal the true power of the Sabbath in a way that no one could imagine.  This man who would have been barred from Temple worship (see Leviticus 21:16ff), is about to be made whole again through the power of Christ.  Sensing their silent judgment, Jesus even gives the Pharisees and chance to weigh in on the matter.  "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?"  He asks them this question knowing that as much as they revere the Sabbath, they have deemed certain actions in the past as being acceptable, perhaps the most prominent of the "exceptions" being the Maccabees self-defense on the Sabbath (see I Maccabees 2:41, a non-canonical book that fills in many of the historical gaps from the inter-testimental period).  It is true that the Maccabees were the liberators of Israel, and that they were acting in self-defense, but nonetheless they worked (fought a battle) and killed on the Sabbath.  Jesus point becomes all the more obvious: if exceptions can be made for killing, how can exceptions not be made for healing?  The power of Jesus argument, and it's irrefutable nature are demonstrated in the silence of his opponents. 
In the end, the tragedy is that the Pharisees and Herodians view of the Sabbath, and their prejudice against Jesus, caused them to miss what should have been obvious, especially to those learned in the law.  As Jesus healed the withered hand of the man, they should have seen before their eyes the actual fulfilled of Isaiah 35:
"The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.  The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.  They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.  Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.  Sat to those who have an anxious heart, 'be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will come in vengeance, with the recompense of God.  He will come and save you." (Isaiah 35:1-4, italics mine)
The Pharisees and the Herodians, the religious leaders of the day, could have used their energy to speak courage into the anxious heart.  Instead, they condemn themselves, ironically enough, by plotting to take a life on the Sabbath.  How absurd their judgment of Jesus' healing actions looks when viewed against the backdrop of their own destructive scheming on the Sabbath.  Thankfully, Jesus plans are not thwarted by judgmental attitudes, whether they belong to the Pharisees, the Herodians, or ourselves.  You see, Jesus did much more than heal on the Sabbath, he healed the Sabbath.  He restored our vision so that we can see what Sabbath truly is; not a ceasing from all work, but an entering into the rest of God. 
  
  

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Mark 2:18-28: fasting and feasting

A lot of my friends have gotten married recently, which I guess is a sign that I am at that point in life where an incurable case of adulthood is setting in.  At first, when Jesus used wedding imagery to explain the concept of fasting, I was more than a little confused.  And yet, having seen so many of my friends and their fiances prepare for weddings, I think I understand now the point that Jesus was trying to make.  In essence, fasting is a means to an end.  If you know a girl who is engaged, then you probably know a girl on a diet.  I have heard it referred to as the wedding dress diet, among other things.  The months leading up to the wedding are spent in physical preparation.  More than likely, the bride has bought a dress that is a little too small, so that every time she sees that several hundred (or more than likely several thousand) dollars hanging there in her closet, she will find renewed motivation to lose a few pounds.  She wants to look her very best for that special day.  If, on the day of her wedding, that bride refused to eat or drink anything at the reception, people would think she was crazy.  She did all that dieting BEFORE the wedding so that she could look her best, and fully enjoy the wedding itself.  The wedding is a distinctly different context than the time leading up to the wedding.  The scribes who challenge Jesus and his disciples regarding their fasting practices are making a category mistake, they have failed to recognize that the wedding day has indeed arrived.  When we understand the discussion about fasting in this light, Jesus' comments about the patch and the wineskins make a lot more sense.  Jesus has brought something new into the world.  Just as we wouldn't mix old and new fabric, or put new wine into old wineskins, neither should we try to interpret Jesus actions through old categories and try to force Him to conform to the "old" way of doing things.  Jesus has begun something new on the earth, and our ability to recognize that will ultimately determine whether we are able to truly embrace this new work of God among us.
It is a quick, and yet appropriate transition to go from the topic of fasting to the topic of feasting.  The Pharisees go from questioning Jesus and his disciples about their fasting methods, to questioning them about how they eat.  Perhaps the Pharisees call to mind certain religious people you have met, whose primary religious experience seems to be to critique the religious experience of others.  The tragic irony of the Pharisees is that they were so tied up in the knowledge and keeping of their own law, that they failed to know their own story.  As Jesus points out to them, his disciples are not the first men to "break the rules" in order to satisfy their hunger.  David and his men did far more than pluck some grain on the Sabbath, they actually ate the Bread of Presence reserved only for the priest!  If God was willing to let something like that slide, do you really think he is concerned about a few heads of grain being plucked on the Sabbath?  Again, the Pharisees have made a critical error in assessing the situation.  Earlier they tried to use old categories to interpret this new thing that Jesus was bringing about in His ministry.  Here, they forget the simple fact that the rules were not made to enslave humankind, but rather to liberate it.  The rules were given to us so that we would know how to interact with each other, and with God.  It reminds me of an incident that happened at Clemson University a few years ago.  One of the football players came from a very bad home where his mother was addicted to drugs.  After he left to go to school, things destabilized even further and he decided that it was unsafe for his younger brother to stay in that environment any longer.  He brought him up to Clemson to live with him, but ran into a problem.  NCAA rules prohibited him from getting a job to support his brother, and he was forbidden from receiving any aid from those in the Clemson community.  To receive aid, whether it was canned goods, some cash to buy groceries, or even some used clothes, would be seen as an improper benefit.  Thankfully ESPN got word of the situation, and ran a story that in essence shamed the NCAA into making an exception to the rules in the instance of this young man.  The rules had been created for a good reason; to protect student athletes and to ensure fair competition.  However, in being so rigid and legalistic the NCAA was actually using the rules to harm this football player and his brother.  It begs the question, how do we use the rules?  Do we see them as a blessing and a means of protecting ourselves and others, or do we wield them as a weapon with which to judge and harm others?  How we answer will determine whether we look more like Jesus, or one of his opponents.    

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Mark 2:13-17: Tax-collecters and sinners, is there really any difference?

One of the most difficult things for us as Christians to do is to reach out to people we don't like.  One of the easiest ways to escape this uncomfortable chore is to label them immediately as a sinner, and thus avoid contact with them on "righteous" grounds.  We even go to scripture to back up our hesitency to associate with such seedy individuals, after all, "bad company corrupts good morals." 
While that may be true, we often rush to judgment on whether the company we are trying so desparately to escape is good or bad.  Truth be told, if we turned the standards we use on others around and use them to perform a little self-evaluation, then we most likely would find that we shouldn't even be associating with ourselves!! 
This is the reality behind these few verses from the gospel of Mark, which are centered on a tax-collecter named Levi.  The society around him insisted on lumping Levi in with sinners, even though his activity wasn't illegal or sinful.  Their disdain for him was motivated by their own nationalistic ideology, or more simply put their politics.  Some will say that as a tax-collecter Levi was almost certainly over-charging, but I would suggest that to assume such things is to read more into the gospel than is actually there. 
The real lesson to be learned is that sometimes our reasons for not liking someone have nothing to do with religion, morality, or righteousness, and that to our horror we sometimes discover that on the contrary, the people we dislike so strongly actually turn out to be people of faith and conviction.  Can you imagine the reaction of Peter, Andrew, James, and John when Jesus says to Levi: "follow me!"?  I think they probably reacted in one of two ways.  The first way is skepticism: "Sure Jesus, you go ahead and ask that tax-collecter to follow you.  There is about as much chance of that happening as there is of the pigs we can't eat sprouting wings and flying off!"  The other would be one of shock: "You want to ask who to follow you?  Levi?!?!  That guy constantly has his hand in our pockets, and I suspect that it always takes out more than it should!"  Peter might have been especially exasperated.  I can imagine what may have been going through his head: "First he heals my mother-in-law who does nothing but nag me, and now he wants me to pal around with this guy from the IRS.  This discipleship thing is not how I thought it would be!"     
How do you think they responded when, to both their amazement and their horror, Levi got up and fell in with the other disciples, leaving his tax-collecting booth behind?  Do you think it caused them to re-evaluate their previous opinions of him?  As Jesus procedes to Levi's house, and enjoys a meal with both tax-collecters and sinners, do you think the disciples were perhaps a bit uneasy?  We know that the Pharisees were, because they brought the issue up.  And yet, all Jesus was doing was hanging out with those who were willing to hang out with Him.  I think it's a powerful illustration that anyone; and I mean anyone, even "tax-collecters and sinners", can come into the presence of Jesus.  In fact, ultimately we will be judged by our willingness, and even our eagerness to do just that.  We can stand aloof insisting that everything is fine, in which case Jesus can do nothing for us.  OR, we can do the scary thing, the thing that takes faith, and admit that there is much in our lives that needs to change.  We can't heal illness by denying that it is present, nor can we deal with our own sinful nature by pretending to be righteous. 
The real question, I believe, is not "what does this mean for me?"  That question is important, but I think the real elephant in the room, the question that no one wants to ask is, "what does this mean for our churches?"  Barring the doors of our churches to the sinner, or more specifically to the sinner who struggles with a sin different than the one I struggle with, is like a hospital refusing to accept the injured, on the basis that mending their wound would get blood all over the floor.  We would never close the doors of our hospitals out of fear of the sick, after all, where would people go to get well?  Why then, do we have a tendency to slam the doors of our churches in the face of sinners?  Without Jesus what hope do they, or better yet what hope we do, have of being made well?         

Friday, September 9, 2011

Mark 2:1-12: Which is easier??

Sometimes miracles arn't as impressive as they seem.  On the other hand, sometimes that which doesn't appear impressive at first, upon further consideration, is revealed to be nothing short of miraculous. 
Such is the case with Jesus' healing of the paralytic.  Much has been said, rightfully so, of the paralytic's friends and their willingness to carry him to Jesus.  Similarly, a lot of attention has been given to Jesus' healing of the paralytic.  Again, it's hard to argue against the significance of such an event. 
And yet, sometimes we get so caught up in the glitz and glam of physically impressive miracles, that we fail to come to grips with Jesus' true purpose for performing the miracle to begin with.  It is important to note that rather than stating that the man was "healed", Jesus forgives his sins.  The scribes quickly pick up on this, and even if it's silently, they begin to wonder who this man thinks he is? 
Jesus' response is rooted in his identity as the Son of God.  While others- prophets and apostles specifically- were capable of healing, and even brining the dead back to life, no one, and I mean no one, had ever claimed the ability to forgive sins.  It is true that on occassion prophets would pronounce that forgiveness had been granted (see the story of Nathan and David in II Samuel 12:13 where Nathan pronounces forgiveness, while also being careful to credit the Lord as the one who does the forgiving), but none of them claimed the ability and authority to forgive independently of God.  Just as Jesus authority to teach is inherently a part of him (see Mark 1), so is his ability and willingness to forgive. 
Beyond his ability to forgive, Jesus also shows an uncanny ability to know the thoughts of others.  While Jesus is yet to explicitly claim the mantle of Son of God, his actions implicitly point to who he truly is.  Consider these words from the psalmist:
"Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous- you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God!" - Psalm 7:9
In testing the minds and the hearts of the scribes who would challenge his ability to forgive sins, Jesus is indirectly identifying himself as the righteous God who alone is capable of such things! 
More than physical healing, this is a story about forgiveness, namely who it is that has the authority to forgive.  It's also a story about our willingness, and indeed our ability, to receive the forgiveness that is offered so freely.  It is here that the friends of the paralyzed man teach us something about what it means to be a community.  The commentator John R. Donahue states it this way:
 “The text also encourages reflection on the relation between sin and “paralysis”.  Sin can exercise such force that people are unable to move or change.  They may, like the paralyzed man, be dependent on others on the journey to health and restoration.”
While it is God alone who forgives, we as His people are tasked with the sacred responsibility of bringing those in need of forgiveness, broken and paralyzed though they may be, to the feet of Jesus.  And when the "mat" you carry them on gets heavy, call on others of faith to lend a hand and remind yourself that you are only capable of carrying them because at some point, perhaps long ago, someone had enough love and kindness to carry you.  After all, it's only when we see our reflection in the person laying there, paralyzed with sin, that we can truly understand what it means to have been forgiven. 

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Mark 1:29-45: Would you want Jesus to heal your mother-in-law?

We aren't even through the first chapter of Mark, and yet already Jesus is having problems escaping his reputation as a miracle-worker.  It's not that it's a bad thing to be a miracle-worker, but as we have already seen, Jesus didn't come to perform the miracles.  Nonetheless, in two of the three "scenes" from this passage, we see Jesus acting in the moment, healing and restoring health.  It's worth asking though, is Jesus new-found popularity permanent, or more a result of what he can do for those around Him at the time?  In seeing the reactions of those around him to his healing work, it might even challenge us to ask if we love Jesus for who he is, or what he can do for us?
Jesus' healing of Simon's mother-in-law, when taken in conjunction with the exorcism he performs just prior to arriving at Simon's house, tells us a number of things about Jesus' view of the relationship between the Law and humanity.  Quite simply, if Jesus followed the Law as the Pharisees and scribes would have him to, the exorcism and healing of Simon's mother-in-law would never have happened.  The Law doesn't allow for work on the Sabbath.  Nor does it allow for the touching of one with an unclean spirit, or the touching of a woman who isn't a relation.  So what does this tell us?  Is Jesus some free-wheeling rebel who throws the Law out the window?  On the contrary, Jesus actions serve to remind us of the intent of the Law.  At the risk of spoiling what is yet to come, in Mark 2:27 we will see Jesus state explicitly the thinking that caused him to violate the Sabbath in such obvious ways, "man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man."  Rather than seeing Jesus as some Law-breaking free-spirit, perhaps it would have done the scribes good to consider another option.  Perhaps, Jesus was opening up a deeper, more eternal way of thinking about Sabbath.  Perhaps Jesus knew that there is no rest for the demon-possessed and the ill.  How tragically ironic would it be if Jesus allowed the law that was given to ensure that humanity would have rest to prevent him from giving rest and the restoration of health to those most in need of Sabbath?
After making an attempt, albeit a brief one, to flee the crowds surrounding him for miracles, Jesus once again finds himself in the midst of people, teaching in a synagogues and when necessary casting out demons.  It is in the midst of this ministry of preaching and healing that Jesus is confronted by a leper, who desperately wants not only to be made well, but to be made "clean".  Again, we see Jesus violating the rules of his day as he reaches out his hand to touch the man.  What we dare not miss is that Jesus' touch, while not being the thing that heals him of leprosy, is the thing that heals the man's spirit.  The man's request to be "made clean" reflects the way that he has been ostracized, completely cut off from his community.  He wants to be healed, yes, but what he most wants is to be made part of society once again.  If this man had been a leper for any length of time, then Jesus' touch would have been at once both a foreign, and yet also longed for thing.  If we look closely, we see that Jesus' touch serves no other purpose.  It is his words, "I will, be clean", that cause the healing to become an immediate reality.  The pattern continues to emerge, Jesus refuses to elevate the law over the well-being of those around him. 
Perhaps the word that is the most relevant for us is found in the response of both Simon's mother-in-law, and the leper.  On one hand, we see Simon's mother-in-law respond by serving.  Important to note is that she doesn't just serve Jesus, but also those with him.  Without Jesus' physical presence among us, could it be that serving others is an equally valid response through which we show our gratitude for what Christ has done for us?  On the other hand, we have in the leper a simple inability to stay quiet, despite Jesus injunction to say nothing.  I find my ability to stay silent, even when commanded to do otherwise, an indicting characteristic of my own life.  It is clear to me that I need to learn to appreciate the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that manifests itself in both service, and in an inability to remain silent about God's work in the world.  The only way that can happen is if I learn to love the miracle-worker, not the miracle, if I learn to love not the cross, but the one who hung on a cross.  What about you?  Do you truly love the giver of all good things, or merely the gifts themselves? 

Monday, August 22, 2011

Mark 1:21-28: What did Jesus see as his mission?

One of the things that I find quite interesting about this text from Mark is that it has really caused me to think about Jesus mission, and even to explore what Jesus thought his mission to be.  It might seem fairly obvious, and to some extent it is.  "He came to die for our sins", that is probably the stock answer you would receive from almost any Christian if you asked them about Jesus mission.  While that is true, and there is no denying Jesus death and resurrection as the centerpiece of Jesus earthly ministry, if the extent of Jesus mission was to die a sacrificial death, why the several year ministry?  Why not just come, die, rise again, and be done with the whole messy business?
I think the answer is that deep down Jesus was a teacher.  Even more than that, he was THE teacher.  To our detriment, we often allow Jesus' miracles to overshadow Jesus' teaching.  It is important to note that even in this passage when he heals the man with the unclean spirit, Jesus does this as a response to the fact that his teaching has been interupted.  As we read through the gospel of Mark, we will see a pattern emerge, where Jesus attempts to teach the people, but all they seem to be interested in is miracles.  In many ways, we fall into the same trap.  Jesus feeding of the five thousand, Jesus turning water into wine, those are the events that catch our eye.  They are flashy, the seem to bear the greatest witness to Jesus' identity as the Son of God.  And yet, if it were true that miracles offered the greatest proof that Jesus was indeed who he said he was, then why do we find miracles to so often be the source of confusion when it comes to Jesus' identity?
- When Jesus heals a man with a withered hand, it causes the Pharisees and scribes to oppose Him (Mark 3:6)
- When he casts out demons, the scribes think he is possessed (Mark 3:22)
- Jesus' healing of the sick fails to impress those from his own town (Mark 6:2-3)
- His miracles cause Herod to mistakingly believe that John the Baptist has come back from the grave (Mark 6:14-16)
- And in perhaps the most stunning example, the discipes fail to comprehend Jesus power even after he miraculously feeds 5,000, and then 4,000 people (Mark 6:52; 8:13-21)
The evidence would seem to suggest that if we are going to truly understand who Jesus is, we must look to what he preached and what he taught.  The only miracle we need to confirm the authority with which he proclaimed his message is the miracle of the empty tomb. 
So what should we learn concerning Jesus the teacher?  Mark thinks there are a few things that we should know.  First of all, Jesus has confidence in His authority, as he shows up to teach in a sacred place (the synagogue), and at a sacred time (the Sabbath).  No one would really pay much attention to someone who stood behind a pulpit, preaching to an empty room on a Tuesday morning.  But when the sanctuary is full on Sunday morning, standing behind the pulpit takes on a whole nother meaning.  Secondly, Jesus' authority is innate, or based on His identity, rather than derived from any source.  I like to think of the difference between an attorney and a Supreme Court justice.  An attorney can argue what the law says, based on precedent and interpretation, but a Supreme Court justice can decide what the law says, and in the process make the law.  Jesus teachings do not rest on the scholarly opinions of learned rabbis and scribes, or even on precedent, but rather on His own opinion, which by its very nature is truth with a capital "T".  It's intriguing to note that in this introduction to Jesus as teacher, Mark doesn't even mention what it is Jesus taught.  In this initial encounter, Mark's goal is merely to show us that Jesus teaches, and teaches as one with authority. 
If Mark places so much emphasis on Jesus as teacher, perhaps it is worth taking a look at what it is Jesus' taught.  After all, our ability to truly follow Jesus will be determined not by His ability to cast a demon out of someone 2,000 years ago, but on the words that he taught and preached whose truth remains as powerful today, as when they were first uttered. 

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Mark 1:16-20: the "cost" of discipleship

It's easy for me to read a lot of the Bible, especially the gospels, allowing myself to operate under the assumption that the historical events that we read of there were of a special nature.  Surely Jesus isn't going to come walking down the road and ask me to drop everything to follow Him, so how can I relate those first followers of Jesus who left behind their nets, and sometimes more, to follow Christ?

When we begin to move beyond their immediate context, we see some challenging similarities between their situation and ours.  First of all we, like them, are called by God.  The call seems more explicit in these few verse of Mark's gospel, because Jesus specifically addresses a few men, issuing them an invitation.  What it's easy to lose sight of is the universal nature of Jesus' invitation.  We may think that at some moment in our lives we made the conscious decision to seek out God, but if we are honest with ourselves we will open our eyes to the reality that God has already sought us out.  The cross stands dominating the landscape of history, a giant invitation for humankind to be reconciled to God.  Paul would put it this way, "for while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6)  We may never see Jesus face-to-face on this earth, but his invitation to us to "follow me" is just as real for us today as it was for those first disciples. 

A second challenging similarity is found in the nature of Jesus invitation.  Jesus invitation is a call to action, but more specifically it is a call to apprenticeship.  "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men."  The implication there is that they are not already fishers of men, and that there is something they need to learn from Christ before they will be fully capable of "fishing" as he does.  The tragic irony is that too often we trust Jesus to be our savior, but not our teacher.  Or, perhaps a more accurate way of stating it is that it doesn't even occur to us that in addition to being saved by Jesus, it is possible that we might learn something from Him.  It has taken me years to come to grips with the fact that Jesus is more than someone we learn about, he is someone we learn from.  To be honest, what that means for my life is something that I am constantly in the process of discovering. 

A final way that our story relates to that of those first disciples is that we, like them, are going to be called to give something up in order to follow Jesus.  The sacrifices we are called to make will differ, both in their nature as well as in their intensity.  I find it interesting that from what we can tel, Peter and Andrew simply leave behind a net, while James and John leave behind a boat, employees, and even their father to follow Jesus.  It's a safe assumption that the fishing business for James, John, and their father Zebedee was going better than it was for Peter and Andrew.  Does that mean that James and John were "better" disciples of Jesus because they gave up more to follow Jesus than Peter and Andrew did?  Absoltely not.  What it means is that in that point and time, their sacrifice was greater.  There were other times that the situation would have been reversed, especially when we consider that James, Peter, and Andrew would all suffer martyrdom, while by all accounts John died of natural causes.  The point here is not to quantify the sacrifices we make, or the amount of suffering we endure, but rather to grapple with the reality that at some point in time, we ALL are going to be called upon to leave behind something, or to do without something, or to give something up.  I like the way John Wesley puts it:
“This taking of His yoke upon us means we are heartily content that he appoint us our place and work, and that He alone be our reward.  Christ has many services to be done; some are easy, others are difficult; some bring honour, others bring reproach; some are suitable to our natural inclinations and temporal interests, others are contrary to both.  In some we may please Christ and please ourselves, in others we can not please Christ except by denying ourselves.  Yet the power to do all these things is assuredly given us in Christ, who strengthens us.”
Did you catch that one line?  In remarking on the many services Christ has to be done, Wesley states very plainly that "in some we may please Christ and please ourselves, in others we can not please Christ except by denying ourselves."  Our faith will not cost us every minute of every day, but rest assured there will come a time at some minute of some day, that we will be made to chose between ourselves and Christ.  We can borrow language from our text in Mark to ask the poignent question, are you losing sight of Jesus because of your refusal to get out of the boat?  Have you become entangled in the nets that you cling so tighly to?  Whatever it is that is holding us back, whether it's a boat or just a net, we must put it aside if we hope to truly follow Christ because if there is one thing that I have learned, it's that following Christ is never a stationary act.       
      

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Mark 1:1-15: where do you get your (good) news from?

One of the things that we often overlook, more than likely because of our being almost 2,000 years removed from the historical context, is that there were multiple ideas of "good news" competiting for attention and allegiance in the first century.  Consider this inscription about Octavian, whom we know as Augustus, the first Roman emperor:

 “Because providence has ordered our life in a divine way…and since the Emperor through his epiphany has exceeded the hopes of former good news, surpassing not only the benefactors who came before him, but also leaving no hope that anyone in the future will surpass him, and since the birthday of the god was for the world the beginning of his good news [may it be declared that]…”

Perhaps you picked up on the fact that Augustus is referred to as a god.  It is shocking to us, but you have to credit the ancients for at least being honest.  Perhaps the difference between us and them is not that they worship mortals as gods, but that they are at least honest when they do so.  The stark truth is that in our day, just as in theirs, there are multiple ideas, multiple forms of "good news" fighting for our loyalty. 
The thrust of the gospel (good news) of Mark is that while there may be many messages passing themselves off as good news, there is only one gospel that is rooted in eternity.  If we look closely enough, we will see that most things trying to pass as good news betray their temporality.  Consider this section of the inscription mentioned above, "surpassing not only the benefactors who came before him, but also leaving no hope that anyone in the future will surpass him".  The good news of Augustus advent as emperor was firmly rooted in the past, and while that advent may have been good news to those alive to witness it at the time, it would actually be depressing news for those who would come after, for whom there was "no hope that anyone in the future would surpass him."
Contrast this with Mark's message, which begins with the words "the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ…”  The good news preached by John the Baptist is rooted in the present, and even in the future, as opposed to the world's good news of things past.  John's message referred to one coming who was mightier than he (v. 7), to one who would baptize in the Holy Spirit (v. 8).  
More than likely the first recipients of this gospel were Roman Christians in the 60's AD.  I won't go into the details of why we think that is the case, but it has a lot to do with internal evidence found in the gospel.  I point this out because the commentator William L. Lane highlights what this good news would have meant to a group of Christians who as they received it, were in the midst of intense persecution.  Lane points out that as they heard the gospel preached, they would have found multiple ways to identify with the story of Christ. 
- Just as they were driven underground to live and worship in catacombs, Jesus was driven into the wilderness, by the Spirit no less, to experience temptation. (1:12)
- Juast as they were led into the coliseum to be devoured by wild beasts, suffering martyrdom for the name of Christ, so Jesus lived among the wild beats during his time in the wilderness.  (1:13)
- Like them, he was misrepresented (3:21, f. 30)
- Just as they were often turned into the authorities by their friends, and even family, Jesus was betrayed by Judas, one of his closest friends from his inner circle. (3:19)
- Just as they were lifted up on poles, and burned as torches in the emperor Nero’s garden, Jesus was lifted up on a cross and crucified. 
- Most importantly, just as a Roman centurion, a representative of the empire that was so intensely persecuting them, would confess the truth that Jesus was the Son of God, so would they experience vindication ultimately through Christ's resurrection. 

The good news offered by the world, like a carton of milk, comes with an expiration date.  That date may seem far off, but I can promise you that it will get here sooner than you realize.  The resurrection, on the other hand, is eternal, and it ensures that the good news of Jesus Christ is always relveant, always available, and always fresh.